Fans - 12V or not?

[DomX]

Hi all,

First post, so be gentle

We've been motorhome owners for 10 years now, but have never left the UK. This summer, we've decided to head to France for 2 weeks and expect it to be warm in the van at night.

As we don't have aircon, I'm looking to get a couple of compact fans to run overnight. As I can't be sure I'll be on a hook up every night, I was thinking of getting 12V fans, but am worried about running them overnight and killing the leisure battery.

Any thoughts on this much appreciated plus any recommendations for good fans. We don't have a massive amount of storage space, so the 2 fans will need to be reasonably compact yet effective.

Thanks in advance,
Dom.

 

[DBK]

Welcome! If you use the search facility you will be able to find the numerous threads on this subject.

The big problem is noise. Small fans tend to run at high revs. The much larger fans run slower and should be quieter but individual folk differ enormously in what is judged too noisy.

I use an Endless Breeze fan which looks big but it probably takes up the same volume as two small fans - and one Endless Breeze is all you need. Your battery should be fine if you run the fan at its lowest setting - which is again all you need. .

 

[TerryL]

I'll second the Endless Breeze - at it's lowest setting it's very quiet and uses hardly any juice at all. It's NOT silent though - some people may find it intrusive.

We use it instead of the aircon - it's just as effective and MUCH quieter.

 

[Richard n Ann]

I always adapt the fans to go in the sky light, it's great at night sleeping under the fan blowing cold air straight in from outside

My 12v contraption, 4 x 120mm axial fans with speed control, mozzie guards and thermostat:

Mains version, with my special quiet mode adaptation

 

[Jim]

Endless Breeze are superb, they move lots of air not too noisily and don’t hit your batteries too much. @DMS sell them and will give you a Funster discount yy

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[DomX]

Thanks for the feedback all....sounds like the Endless Breeze is the answer. @Jim - I'll call DMS tomorrow and ask for a Funster discount

 

[DomX]

I always adapt the fans to go in the sky light, it's great at night sleeping under the fan blowing cold air straight in from outside

My 12v contraption, 4 x 120mm axial fans with speed control, mozzie guards and thermostat:
View attachment 300009

Mains version, with my special quiet mode adaptation

View attachment 300011

That looks interesting Richard.... where did you get the 4 fans from in the first shot and how did you wire them together to make a 12V single connection?

 

[bigtwin]

I use one of these powered from a little rechargeable power pack:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/142926993382

It blows a nice cool breeze through the night.

Ian

 

[Jev88]

What is the discount?

 

[Richard n Ann]

That looks interesting Richard.... where did you get the 4 fans from in the first shot and how did you wire them together to make a 12V single connection?

Got the fans on ebay, they are branded Xfan and run faster than the cheap ones, they are about £7 each though.
I wired them all in parallel but they are switched on/off in pairs (you can see the switch between them)
The speed control knob is in the middle of the board, they are a bit noisy on full. The mozzie guards are made out of AC filters